Job Prospects?

[AlwaysContrary]

Hey guys,


In light of what seems to happening to retail brethren, I am wondering what the job prospects for you guys have actually completed PGY1 or 2. It seems when I post this anywhere else it's usually old timers or pharmacist who never did a residency answer the question (and it's usually pretty negative). However, I have decided that I will try for a residency. Right now I'm interested in transplant and oncology. What are the job prospects like?

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[lionheart555]

Hey guys,


In light of what seems to happening to retail brethren, I am wondering what the job prospects for you guys have actually completed PGY1 or 2. It seems when I post this anywhere else it's usually old timers or pharmacist who never did a residency answer the question (and it's usually pretty negative). However, I have decided that I will try for a residency. Right now I'm interested in transplant and oncology. What are the job prospects like?

Making some generalizations here but

- PGY1 Clinical will help you get your foot in the door in a clinical setting. It will set you up well (hopefully) for a PGY2 in a specialization. That would be where you might transition right to transplant and oncology.
**For VA or IHS, I think you will find your options are much broader after completion, especially if you are flexible in moving due to the need as well as the ability to practice in many states on a single state license (I believe that applies for IHS and I know that is true for the VA).

The question of what jobs are available is a bit more unclear. I think the answer really depends on when you are applying and what market/geographic area you are applying to. Everything is relative and really difficult to quantify. You might argue the west coast (CA) is way more difficult to enter compared to the midwest where no one wants to get snow stormed on in the middle of April (yeah forecast of 5 inches of snow today, fml). I think if you LOOK, you will find there are openings. They just might not be great openings and include night shifts, unfavorable hybrid roles, staffing positions that really don't require a residency but because there's so much competition require a residency. I think getting a specialization type of role like oncology or transplant generally requires additional training, and those jobs don't tend to be posted externally as often (AKA you need an IN of some sort to know about openings).

Good luck!

I don't think residency is a bad route. The more flexible you are, the better off you will be in my opinion. And you can always jump ship to pharma as a clinician. They definitely need clinical experts to help with drug discovery, development, marketing, access, and outcomes research.

 

[gwarm01]

I'm hardly an oldtimer, but I am a non-residency trainer hospital pharmacist. I hope you won't ignore my success despite my disadvantage.

It's true that most of us have a negative opinion about the future of pharmacy. The overall downward trend in jobs is undeniable. Decreased hours, lower starting pay, and layoffs are happening nationwide. For now, this has been mostly limited to retail positions.

I'm also generally against pharmacy residency. I'm not against the concept -- increased training for specialist positions just makes sense. I'm against the reality of pharmacists taking a large paycut to receive what used to be on the job training, only to find the same jobs they could have landed right out of school.

Okay. All of that out of the way, what do I think? Residency is your best chance at landing any hospital pharmacy job. Even if I think a new grad is qualified for a hospital job, I accept that a PGY1 is the standard to get your foot in the door at most institutions. With that in mind, residency is probably the best investment you can make in yourself at this point. Search my posts to see more discussion on this, but I am fairly confident that hospital pharmacists have more security than retail in the future market. Our involvement in immediate, critical care makes us very difficult to downsize. The more skills you develop, the more you get paid and the less likely you are to be replaced. I personally believe the same is true for our retail brothers.. god knows you can't just take a 10 year vet and replace them with a new grad and expect the same level of service, but the suits in charge don't realize that.

I'll end this with the same warning I give to everyone else: you must be willing to make your career the top priority in your life to achieve success. You may get lucky and find the job of your dreams right in your home town, but most of us don't. I don't care how much experience or how many residencies you complete, if a job isn't open then you just won't get it. Those of us who continue to find success are the ones who are willing to make it a priority.

 

[AlwaysContrary]

I'm hardly an oldtimer, but I am a non-residency trainer hospital pharmacist. I hope you won't ignore my success despite my disadvantage.

It's true that most of us have a negative opinion about the future of pharmacy. The overall downward trend in jobs is undeniable. Decreased hours, lower starting pay, and layoffs are happening nationwide. For now, this has been mostly limited to retail positions.

I'm also generally against pharmacy residency. I'm not against the concept -- increased training for specialist positions just makes sense. I'm against the reality of pharmacists taking a large paycut to receive what used to be on the job training, only to find the same jobs they could have landed right out of school.

Okay. All of that out of the way, what do I think? Residency is your best chance at landing any hospital pharmacy job. Even if I think a new grad is qualified for a hospital job, I accept that a PGY1 is the standard to get your foot in the door at most institutions. With that in mind, residency is probably the best investment you can make in yourself at this point. Search my posts to see more discussion on this, but I am fairly confident that hospital pharmacists have more security than retail in the future market. Our involvement in immediate, critical care makes us very difficult to downsize. The more skills you develop, the more you get paid and the less likely you are to be replaced. I personally believe the same is true for our retail brothers.. god knows you can't just take a 10 year vet and replace them with a new grad and expect the same level of service, but the suits in charge don't realize that.

I'll end this with the same warning I give to everyone else: you must be willing to make your career the top priority in your life to achieve success. You may get lucky and find the job of your dreams right in your home town, but most of us don't. I don't care how much experience or how many residencies you complete, if a job isn't open then you just won't get it. Those of us who continue to find success are the ones who are willing to make it a priority.

Maybe me saying "old timers and non-residency trained pharmacist" was incorrect on my part. It's just my experience that whenever this is posted people with very strong (i.e. very negative) opinions on residency training reply and it seems to be a trend that they are non-residency trained or older pharmacists. So I am sorry about that.

Thank you very much for the reply though. I do think to be successful in any occupation you need to make it a priority rather than just coasting through receiving a paycheck.

 

[Jokes666]

At least 5 of my classmates have been offered clinical hospital pharmacy positions right out of pharmacy school without a residency. Most have taken retail positions and a good number have matched for residencies. I heard of one who withdrew from the match to accept a clinical hospital position and others who have been offered clinical positions in specialty areas ( cardiology, oncology) without a residency.

 

[glyxambi]

I feel like it depends on the geographical area to be honestly honest. I live in a more desirable area (populous Midwest) and as a PGY-1 resident this year, we've had PGY-2 in critical care and ID apply to our our evening positions with limited clinical opportunities (e.g. decentralized order entry) with the hope to move up within the organization at a community hospital. from what I've heard through my students and residents throughout the city, the prospects are tough. In general from what I've heard from my preceptors, there is maybe 1-2 critical 'specialist' positions that open up in our 500,000+ population area each year with 2 critical care PGY-2 spots.

In retrospect, my old institution where I did my pharmacy schooling that is an academic medical center has reached out to me for an cardiology clinical positions. They definitely desire PGY-1 training but it may depend on the timing of the year. I know that have historical hired non-residency trained individuals, but still have a preference.

If it means anything to you, I have a specific interest in oncology and ended up withdrawing from the PGY-2 match because I ended up getting a position in oncology with my PGY-1. I personally think it is due to geography but the same time I understand that my PGY-1 experience set me up to for self-learning that will help me succeed in my specialty. I do want to preface that people definitely have the ability to accomplish this without residency through dedication, but residency can help fine-tune this skill.